NPR.

This is the indicator from planet money.

I'm Stephen Massaha.

And I'm Whalen Wong.

Last month, a reporter on Air Force One asked President Donald Trump about his administration's recent deal with Argentina.

The country's currency, the peso, is volatile and had plummeted in September. And the U.S.

government had agreed to extend Argentina $20 billion in what's called a swap line, which is essentially a loan.

They're fighting for their life. You understand what that means?

They have no money.

They have no anything.

They're fighting so hard to survive.

Democratic lawmakers blasted a decision to prop up the Argentine peso during a U.S.

government shutdown.

They said the administration was being reckless with American taxpayer money.

Money?

It might not even get back.

So where did the U.S. get the money from?

And will it get it back?

Today on the show, a peak at the 90-year-old emergency fund that the administration used for the Argentine lifeline.

We look at how the government has tapped this money before and why it's doing it this time.

The government piggy bank we're talking about today is called the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

It's been around since 1934. That's when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a law that,

...